Texas lawmakers and big government

By Dylan Baddour

on April 27, 2015 3:46 PM

Photo: Tony Gutierrez, Associated Press

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Oil and Gas

In November 2014, voters in Denton decided to prohibit
drilling for oil and gas within their city limits. But state lawmakers were not
fans of the local legislation, and within months they passed a bill in Austin
nullifying the authority of local governments to regulate oil and gas at home. Now municipalities may only regulate oil and gas through rules that are approved by the state government.

When two women married in Austin earlier this year, state
lawmakers were swift to declare that local officials had no authority to
validate the non-traditional union.

PICTURED: Sarah Goodfriend (second from left) marries Suzanne Bryant outside of the Travis County Clerk's Office in Austin on Thursday, January 19, 2015. They are flanked by their daughters Ting, 13, and Dawn, 18.

Same-sex marriage
When two women married in Austin... Photo-7547289.108449 - Houston Chronicle

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Abortion

State lawmakers have upheld stringent regulations on when,
how and why women can chose to terminate a pregnancy. The rules forced the
closure of clinics around the state that could not meet the costs imposed by
regulations.

PICTURED: Reproductive Services of Harlingen owner Dr. Lester Minto owns one of two abortion clinics in the Rio Grande Valley. He sees about 2,000 women a year.

Texas’ six biggest cities have rules barring discrimination
based on gender or sexuality for bathroom use. State lawmakers didn't like the
rules, and the last session has seen a handful of bills that would undo city
ordinances and replace them with a statewide standard.

Bills filed this legislative session would prohibit Texans
from opting out of vaccinations for religious or philosophical reasons. Similarly,
Ebola-inspired legislation would expand police authority to detain and
quarantine people suspected of exposure to contagious diseases.

Soon after election, Governor Greg Abbott took aim at local
ordinances to ban disposable plastic bags and to limit the cutting of trees. He
said the local regulations were too California and not consistent with the
Texas style, so he suggested regulations governing what cities can and cannot
regulate.

State lawmakers generally support prohibition of marijuana,
even amidst national calls to back off regulation. In Texas, government departments
like police departments, sheriff’s offices and the Texas Department of Public
Safety receive massive funding to identify citizens using or selling marijuana
and capture them for imprisonment.

State lawmakers have come down tough with regulations on
small-scale beer brewers. In 2013, the legislature prohibited beer distributors
from paying brewers to distribute their product. At least one bill this session
would specifically regulate how much beer small brewers can sell directly to
consumers without involving a distributor.

PICTURED: As the number of craft breweries in the area has grown, so has his customers' loyalty, Brash Brewing Co. owner Ben Fullelove says.

In 2014, the Texas Railroad Commission met to discuss
streamlining the permitting process for industrial operations that want to open
shop. They wanted to move permitting authority from city governments to the
state government in Austin. Mayors and other city officials gathered to protest
that the state was usurping their authority, but they failed to sway the
commission’s vote, which approved a concentration of permitting authority.

State lawmakers decry federal common core requirements for
public education, but statewide standardized testing also applies flat
standards to students across the board. Tests like STAAR determine if students
advance through grades, and they determine what teachers will teach throughout
the academic year.